Leg structure for seating



March 6, 1962 1, ANDERSON ETAL 3,024,066

LEG STRUCTURE FOR SEATING Filed Aug. 28, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTORS.

March 6, 1962 R. 1. ANDERSCN ETAL 3,024,066

LEG STRUCTURE FOR SEATING Filed Aug. 28, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 6,1962 R. 1. ANDERSON ET AL 3,024,065

LEG STRUCTURE FOR SEATING Filed Aug. 28. 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 511. jgjg i5 42$ 15 \\\\\\\v p l ms 41 I i Q/JF/ 2 VIII/[III 3,024,066 LEGSTRUCTURE FOR SEATING Robert I. Anderson and George E. Schaefer,Muskegon,

Mich, assignors to Brunswick Corporation, a corporation of DelawareFiled Aug. 28, 1959, Ser. No. 836,804 8 Claims. (Cl. 297248) Thisinvention relates to seating comprised of a plurality of assembledindividual seat units for use by spectators or participants in a bowlingalley or the like, though its use is not limited to this, as will beobvious.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a new and improvedmultiple unit seating structure of the type described.

Another object is to provide a new and improved leg structure or supportstructure for the seat units of a multiple unit seating structure of thecharacter mentioned.

A more specific object is to provide a new and improved supportstructure including a leg unit having a front leg, a rear leg and acrosspiece joining upper ends ofthe' legs, a transverse'beam on thecrosspiece, and an arm at each end of the beam attachable to one or moreof the individual seat units. v

Another object is to provide anew and improved support structure of thetype described in the preceding paragraph wherein the arm at each end ofthe transverse beam comprises a cantilever having a rearwardly disposedend portion attached to the beam and an opposite end portion extendingforwardly from the beam.

A further object is to provide a new and improved multiple unit seatingstructure including two or more of the support structures referred toabove.

An additional object is to provide a new and improved multiple unitseating structure of the type described in the preceding paragraph whichutilizes in addition to the leg structures referred to one or moreadditional supporting leg units including a front leg, a rear leg, acrosspiece joining upper ends of the legs and a bracket on thecrosspiece attachable to and supporting the joints between each pair ofadjacent seat units which are unsupported by a leg structure of the typefirst described.

An improved leg structure of this invention contemplates a single legunit under a seat, such unit including a front leg, 21 rear leg and aconnecting crosspiece all located centrally beneath the seat unit towhich the leg structure is attached, a beam extending transversely ofthe crosspiece and attached at opposite ends to opposite side edges ofthe seat unit. Obviously, at least two such support structures must beutilized in any seating arrangement in order to provide at least fourlegs, but an important advantage of the present construction is that itenables a substantial reduction in the number of legs required inmultiple unit seating structures. For example, in the past it has beenconventional to provide leg units at the seat edges at opposite ends ofthe row of seating and leg units at each of the joints between adjacentseats. In a seating structure utilizing two seat units, this required atleast three leg units. In a structure utilizing three seat units, atleast four leg units were required. According to the present invention,in a seating structure utilizing two seat units only two leg units arerequired, one centrally positioned under each seat unit, and in aseating structure utilizing three seat units only two leg units arerequired, one positioned centrally under each of the two outside seatunits, with the middle seat unit being supported by the end seat units.Thus, it will be understood that, depending upon the number of seatunits in a particular multiple unit arrangement, leg structures of thepresent invention may in some cases be placed under two adjacent .seatunits and in other cases under every other seat unit, but in any eventthey provide the 3,024,066 Patented Mar. 6, 1962 ire advantage ofsubstantially reducing the number of leg units required.

In a seating arrangement utilizing four seat units, leg structures ofthe present invention may be placed under each of the end seat units,with a simplified leg unit under the joint between the second and thirdseat units. It will be appreciated that such an arrangement providessupport for the seating with the use of only three leg units where fivewould have been required according to prior constructions.

The transverse beam on the crosspiece of the leg structures according tothe present invention is conveniently nested under the associated seatunit between downwardly extending side flanges on the seat unit. Thepresent construction facilitates almost an endless number of seatingarrangements, wherein the seating may be increased or decreased easilyin increments of one or more thereby providing great flexibility andversatility. The leg structures are completely interchangeable, therebeing no righthand and left-hand formations.

Other objects and advantages will become readily apparent from thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a multiple unit seatingarrangement including two seat units and supporting leg structureaccording to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a top plan view of theseating illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of a seating arrangement includingthree seat units and leg structures of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the seating illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the seating arrangement utilizingat least four seat units;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the seating illustrated in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a left end elevational view of the seating illustrated inFIGS. 1 to 6;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a supporting leg structure constructedaccording to the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken at about the line 99 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of a simplified leg unit utilized ina seating arrangement as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary taken at about the line 1111 of FIG.2;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional taken at about line 12-12of FIG. 2;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged fragmentary taken at about the line Iii-13 ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional taken at about the line14-14 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional taken at about line 15- 15of FIG. 4;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional taken at about line 16-16of FIG. 4;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional taken at about the line1717 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 18 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional taken at about the line18-18 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 19 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional taken at about the line19-19 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9a is a fragmentary sectional view taken at about the line 9a-9a ofFIG. 8.

While an illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in thedrawings and will be described in detail herein, the invention issusceptible of embodiment in many different forms, and it should beunderstood that sectional view view sectional view view view

view

view

view

view

'the present disclosure is to be considered as an exempliin the appendedclaims.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail, each of the seatingarrangements illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 7 includes a plurality of seatunits 10 and a plurality of supporting leg structures 11. The seatingarrangement illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 includes an additionalsimplified leg unit 12. The seating arrangements illustrated in FIGS. 3to 6 include at the right end of each figure a seat unit 10a whichdiffers from the seat unit 10 only in that the unit 10a is somewhatcurved in order to provide a curve in the row of seating while theremainder of the seat units 10 are formed with straight lines in orderto provide a straight row of seating.

All of the seat units 10 and 10a are preferably of a one-piece moldedplastic construction reinforced with Fiberglas and each includes a seatportion and an integral upright back rest portion 16. The seat unit ineach case is formed with a finishing flange which extends around theentire perimeter of the seat unit and at some places extends downwardlyand at some places rearwardly. More particularly, the seat portion 16includes a front downwardly extending flange 17 and downwardly extendingside flanges 18. The back rest portion 16 includes an upper rearwardlydirected flange 19 and rearwardly directed side flanges 20. In each ofthe seating arrangements illustrated, the seat units are arranged sideby side with the side flanges 18 and 20 of adjacent units abutting eachother.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 8, 9 and 9a, the leg structures or supportstructures 11 each include a leg unit comprised of a front leg 25, arear leg 26, and a crosspiece 27 joining upper ends of the legs.Preferably, the leg units are formed of tubular metal which is bent tothe desired shape as illustrated in the drawings, and desirably the legsand 26 taper downwardly to smaller lower end portions as is bestillustrated in FIG. 7. If desired, the lower ends of the legs 25 and 26may be provided with suitable feet or shoes as illustrated at 28, andthese may be attached to the floor if desired. To the crosspiece 27, abracket 30 is welded, and this bracket includes a central portion 31which is U-shaped and fitted of the underside of the crosspiece 27 andwelded thereto as at 32. The bracket includes at upper ends of thecentral portion 31 oppositely directed laterally extending flanges 34which are on a plane with the upper surface of the crosspiece 27. A beam36 in the form of an upwardly facing channel member extends transverselyon the crosspiece 27 and the flanges 34 and is rigidly attacbed to theflanges preferably by means of bolts or screws as illustrated at 37.Preferably, the beam is strengthened by inwardly directed flanges 38 atthe upper edges thereof.

In order to facilitate attachment of the leg structure to the seat unitsand in order to provide adequate support for the seat units, oppositeends of the beam 36 are each provided with an upright flange in the formof an arm attached as a cantilever 40 to the beam preferably by welding.As illustrated, the cantilever is in the form of an angle member havingalso a horizontally inwardly directed flange 41. As best seen in FIG. 9,at a plurality of positions along the flange 40, spaced in a front torear direction, the flange is provided with a series of openingstherethrough as at 42, 43 and 44 to facilitate the passage of bolts orscrews which attach the flanges to the side flanges of the seat units.

tion of these parts conforms substantially to the formation ofcorresponding parts 25, 26 and 27, as described in connection with theleg structure illustrated in FIGS. 8, 9 and 911. On the crosspiece 27a,an upwardly directed flange 45 is provided and this preferably is formedwith an integral horizontally directed flange 46 (FIG. 17 also) which iswelded as at 47 or otherwise suitably secured to the crosspiece 27a. Theflange 45 is formed with openings 43 and 49 therethrough spaced in afront to rear direction to facilitate the passage of bolts or screws forattaching the flange to the downwardly extending side flanges of thesecond and third seat units in the seating arrangement of FIGS. 5 and 6.

In the supporting leg structure under the curved seat units at the rightend of the seating arrangements illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 6, the beam 36on the crosspiece 27 is curved in plan view as seen on viewing FIGS. 4and 6.

As will be understood, particularly on viewing FIG. 7, the crosspiece27, the bracket 30 welded thereon, and the transverse beam 36 which isattached to the bracket, are all located in positions somewhatrearwardly disposed relative to the seat portion 15 and are thereforeattached to somewhat rearwardly disposed portions of the side flanges 18of the seat portions. The cantilevers 40 extend forwardly from the beam36 to substantially the front edge of the seat portions 15 and at thefront are attached to the side flanges 18 of the seat portions in amanner to support the seat portions rigidly. Viewing FIGS. 7 and 9, theopening 42 at the front end of the cantilever 40 is attached to theexposed outer edge of the seat unit at the left-hand of the rowsillustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6 by means of a connection generallydesignated 42a, the connection through the opening 43 being designatedby the reference number 43a and the connection through the opening 44being designated by the reference character 44a. At the opposite, rightend of the row of seating as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6, the connectioncorresponding to that at 43a is illsutrated in FIG. 11 and is generallydesignated 43b. It should be understood that the connections 43a and 44aare similar, and the connections 43b and 43a are similar so that onlyone need be described in detail.

Referring now to FIG. 11, it will be noted that the beam 36 and theattached cantilever 40 and flange 41 are positioned beneath the seatportion 15 with the cantilever flange 40 abutting the side flange 18 ofthe seat portion with the latter outwardly disposed. Outwardly of flange18, a filler 50 is provided and outwardly of the filler a spacer orwasher 51, both of which are substantially covered and enclosed by anattractive finishing cap or cover 52. The entire assembly is tightlyclamped together as by means of a screw or bolt 53 threaded in a specialnut or cap 54. It should be understood that the filler 50 and the washer51 extend in a front to rear direction a suflicient distance such thatthe connections through both of the openings 43 and 44 encompass theseparts.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, at the right end of the seating arrangementsillustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6, the connection 42b corresponding to thatseen at 42a in FIG. 7 includes a bolt or screw 56 passing through theinwardly disposed cantilever flange 40, the outwardly disposed seatflange 18, and a suitable washer 19 and is held in place by a specialnut or cap 57 which clamps the parts tightly together.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, at the joint between abutting seat units,both of which are supported by leg structures 11 constructed accordingto the present invention (FIGS. 1 and 2), the connection at opening 43is designated 43c and includes inwardly disposed abutting seat flanges18, and outwardly of these, abutting the seat flanges, cantileverflanges 40, the four flanges being tightly clamped in position by ascrew or bolt as at 59 and a special nut 60.

As illustrated at FIG. 14, at the joints between abutting seat units,both of which are supported by leg structures 11 (FIGS. 1 and 2), thefront connection through openings 42 is designated 42c and includes theinwardly disposed abutting seat flanges '18, and outwardly of these oneach side the cantilever flanges 40 which respectively abut the seatflanges, the four flanges being tightly clamped together by means of abolt or screw 65 and a nut 66. i

As illustrated in FIG. 15, at the joint between adjacent seat unitswhere one seat unit is supported by a leg structure 1 1 and the adjacentseat unit is unsupported by such a structure, the connection throughopening 43 is designated 43a and includes the inwardly disposed abuttingseat flanges 18, and on one side, the abutting cantilever flange 40, andon the opposite side a washer or spacer plate 68, the four parts thusdescribed being clamped tightly by a bolt or screw 69 and a nut 70. Itshould be understood that the plate 60 extends in a front to reardirection so that a similar connection through the opening 44 wouldencompass the plate 68.

As illustrated in FIG. 16, at the joint between adjacent seat units, oneof which is supported by a leg structure 11 and the other of which isnot supported by such a structure, the forwardly disposed connectionthrough opening 42 is designated 42d and includes abutting seat flanges18, and on one side of these the abutting cantilever flange 40, thethree of which are tightly clamped together as by means of a bolt orscrew 75 and a nut 76 thereon.

At the joint between abutting seat units, neither of which are supportedby leg structures 11, but the joint of which is supported by one of theleg units 12 (FIGS. and 6) the connection through opening 48 in flange45 is illustrated in FIG. 17. It should be understood that theconnection through opening 49 is similar. Each con nection includes theabutting seat flanges 18, at one side of these the upright flange 45 onthe leg unit crosspiece 27a, and on the opposite side a washer or plate78 which would extend forwardly and rearwardly beyond both openings 48and 39, the four of which are tightly clamped in position as by means ofa bolt or screw 80 and a special nut or cap 81.

As illustrated in FIG. 18, the joint at the front of the abutting seatunits, such as the second and third seat units in FIGS. 5 and 6,includes the abutting seat unit side flanges which are secured to eachother as by means of a bolt or screw 85, a nut 86 and suitable washersas at 87 if desired.

As illustrated in FIG. 19, the abutting rearwardly directed side flanges2% on adjacent back rest portions 16 are secured together as by means ofa bolt or screw 88 and a special nut or cap 39. As best seen in FIG. 7,connections such as these may be provided at vertically spaced positionsas indicated by the openings 90 and 91.

It will be appreciated that the supporting leg structures 11 with thetransverse beams 36 and the cantilevers 46, 4-1 substantially fit theunderside of the seat portions 15 with their depending side flanges 18so as to be substantially obscured when the multiple unit seating iscompleted. These supporting leg structures provide a rigid mounting forthe molded plastic seat units and at the same time, with or without legunits such as that at 1 .2, provide for a substantial reduction in thenumber of legs required in multiple unit seating structures. An almostendless number of seating arrangements may be produced. In addition tothose illustrated specifically in FIGS. 1 to 6, it will be appreciatedthat various combinations of the illustrated arrangements may beprovided, as well as other arrangements. For example, to the seatingillustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4-, two additional seat units may be providedat either end, with the end seat unit added being also supported by aleg structure 11. Such a seating arrangement may be further multipliedby similar additions of two units. The seating arrangement in FIGS. 1and 2 and the seating arrangement in FIGS. 5 and 6 may also be modifiedin a similar manner to include the addition of two seat units at one orboth ends, the end unit of which may be supported by a leg structuresuch as that at 11.

We claim:

1. A support structure for seating, comprising: a onepiece leg'unitincluding a front leg, a'rear leg and a frontto-rear piece joining upperends of the legs, means providing laterally oppositely extending flangeson said piece, a beam extending transversely on said piece equal lengthsin opposite directions therefrom and attached to the flanges, and acantilever at each end of the beam each having its rear end portionsecured to the beam and its opposite end extending forwardly from thebeam, and an upright flange on the cantilever having spaced openingstherethrough facilitating attachment thereof to a seat.

2. A support structure for seating, comprising: a tubular one-piece legunit including a front leg, a rear leg and a crosspiece joining upperends of the legs, a bracket attached to the crosspiece providinglaterally oppositely extending flanges, a channel shaped beam extendingtransversely on the crosspiece and secured to the flanges, a cantileverat each end of the beam having a rear end portion secured to the beamand an opposite end extending forwardly from the beam, and an uprightflange on the cantiliver having spaced openings therethroughfacilitating attachment of the support structure to a seat.

3. A seating structure, comprising, a plurality of seat units eachincluding a seat portion with downwardly extending side flanges, theseat units being arranged side by side with adjacent side flanges ofadjacent units abutting; a support structure under each seat unitincluding a leg unit having a front leg, a rear leg and a crosspiecejoining upper ends of the legs, a transverse beam secured on thecrosspiece, a cantilever at each end of the beam extending forwardlytherefrom and abutting the adjacent side flange of the associated seatportion; and means securing the cantilevers to the adjacent side flangesand securing the abutting side flanges of adjacent seat portionstogether.

4. A seating structure, comprising, a plurality of seat units eachincluding a seat portion with downwardly extending side flanges and anupright back rest with rearwardly extending side flanges, the seat unitsbeing arranged side by side with adjacent side flanges of adjacent unitsabutting; a support structure under each seat unit including a leg unithaving a front leg, a rear leg and a crosspiece joining upper ends ofthe legs, a transverse beam secured on the crosspiece, a cantilever ateach end of the beam extending forwardly therefrom and including anupright side flange; means securing the side flanges of the cantileversto the adjacent side flanges of the seat units at a plurality ofpositions spaced in a front to rear direction, means securing theabutting downwardly extending side flanges of adjacent seat portionstogether at a plurality of positions spaced in a front to reardirection, and means securing the abutting rearwardly extending sideflanges of adjacent back rests together.

5. A seating structure, comprising, a plurality of seat units, eachincluding a seat portion with downwardly extending side flanges, theseat units being arranged side by side with adjacent side flanges ofadjacent units abutting; a support structure under every other seat unitincluding a leg unit having a front leg, a rear leg and a crosspiecejoining upper ends of the legs, a transverse beam secured on thecrosspiece, a cantilever at each end of the beam extending forwardlytherefrom and abutting the adjacent side flange of the associated seatportion; means securing the cantilevers to the adjacent side flangesassociated therewith, and means attaching the side flanges of theunsupported seat units to the adjacent side flanges of supported seatunits adjacent thereto.

6. A seating structure, comprising, a plurality of seat units, eachincluding a seat portion with downwardly extending side flanges and anupright back rest with rearwardly directed side flanges, the seat unitsbeing arranged side by side with adjacent side flanges of adjacent unitsabutting; a support structure under every other seat unit including aleg unit having a front leg, a rear leg and a crosspiece joining upperends of the legs, a transverse beam secured on the crosspiece, acantilever at each end of the beam extending forwardly therefrom andincluding an upright side flange abutting the adjacent side flange ofthe associated seat portion; means securing the cantilever side flangesto the seat portion side flanges abutting therewith at a plurality ofpositions spaced in a front to rear direction, means securing the sideflanges of unsupported seat units to the abutting side flanges ofadjacent supported seat units at a plurality of positions spaced in afront to rear direction, and means securing together the abuttingrearwardly directed side flanges of adjacent back rests.

7. A seating structure, comprising, a plurality of at least four seatunits each including downwardly extending side flanges, the units beingarranged side by side with adjacent side flanges of adjacent unitsabutting; a support structure under each of the first and fourth of saidseat units including a leg unit having a front leg, a rear leg and acrosspiece connecting upper ends of the legs, a transverse beam on thecrosspiece, a cantilever at each end of the beam extending forwardlytherefrom and abutting the adjacent side flange of the adjacent seatunit; means securing the cantilevers to the adjacent side flangesassociated therewith, means connecting adjacent seat units together; anda leg unit supporting the joint between the second and third of saidseat units including a front leg, a rear leg and a crosspiece connectingupper ends thereof and secured to the second and third seat portions.

8. A seating structure, comprising a plurality of at least four seatunits each including a seat portion having downwardly extending sideflanges, the seat units being arranged side by side with adjacent sideflanges of adjacent units abutting; a support structure under each ofthe first and fourth of said seat units including a leg unit having afront leg, a rear leg and a crosspiece connecting upper ends of thelegs, a transverse beam on the crosspiece, a cantilever at each end ofthe beam extending forwardly therefrom and abutting the adjacent sideflange of the associated seat portion; a leg unit at the joint betweenthe second and third of the seat units including a front leg, a rearleg, a crosspiece connecting upper ends thereof and an upright flange onthe crosspiece abutting with one of the abutting flanges of the secondand third seat portions; means securing the cantilevers to the seatportion side flanges abutting therewith and securing such side flangesto the seat portion side flanges abutting therewith, and'means securingthe upright flange on said last recited leg unit to the abutting seatportion side flanges adjacent thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent,

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